Techmeme
August 5, 2020, 11:50 PM

Top News

Heather Kelly / Washington Post:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches Instagram Reels, its TikTok competitor that lets users create and publish 15-second videos, in 50+ countries, including the US, UK, and Japan  —  Instagram Reels, the company's significant effort in challenging TikTok on short-form creative content, is launching globally, starting today.
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump admin proposes a “Clean Network” effort to curb potential national security risks from China by banning “untrusted” Chinese apps from US app stores, more  —  - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a five-pronged “Clean Network” effort aimed at curbing potential national security risks from China.
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet:
Samsung and Microsoft extend their partnership to add deeper integration with Office on Galaxy Note20 devices and let users stream Android apps to Windows 10  —  The new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 devices will support Office app synchronization, new Your Phone features and Microsoft's cloud gaming functionality.
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Samsung announces 6.7" Galaxy Note20 and 6.9" Note20 Ultra with Android 10, Snapdragon 865+, and more, starting at $999 and $1,299  —  Samsung's Galaxy Note lineup has evolved over the years, but always remained a series for power users.  Today, Samsung is launching the Galaxy Note 20 series …
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Twitter fixes a bug in its Android app that could let hackers access private data like DMs; 96% of the apps' users currently use a patched version of Android  —  Twitter today announced that it fixed a security vulnerability in the Twitter for Android app that could have allowed attackers …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft ends its xCloud game streaming test on iOS devices, says it had to limit the app to one game and 10,000 testers “to comply with App Store policies”  —  Apple's App Store policies appear to be holding xCloud back  —  Microsoft has ended its xCloud game streaming test for iOS devices today.
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Instagram says a “bug” caused its hashtag recommendations to favor Trump-related content when searching for hashtags related to Joe Biden and Trump  —  “A technical error caused a number of hashtags to not show related hashtags.  We've disabled this feature while we investigate."
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Virginia becomes first US state to debut COVID-19 tracing app using Apple and Google API  —  The Exposure Notification API developed by Apple and Google is officially being put to use in the United States.  Virginia has become the first U.S. state to offer a COVID-19 contact tracing application using …
Crystal Tse / Bloomberg:
Shares of e-commerce startup BigCommerce rose as much as 292% above its $24 IPO Wednesday; stock closed up 201% and raised $216M  —  BigCommerce Holdings Inc., which makes software for online business operations, rose as much as 292% in its trading debut after pricing its $216 million initial public offering above a targeted range.
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Samsung announces the Galaxy Z Fold2 with an upgraded camera system, larger 7.6-inch main display, and hole-punch cameras; release date and price TBA  —  The Fold is back  —  Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 at its Unpacked event, the successor to last year's Galaxy Fold …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
California's labor commissioner has filed separate lawsuits against Uber and Lyft for alleged wage theft by misclassifying workers as independent contractors  —  The Golden State is becoming increasingly hostile to app-based ride-hailing  —  Uber and Lyft are committing wage theft …
Davey Alba / New York Times:
In an open letter, 20 state AGs called on Facebook to better prevent messages of hate, bias, and disinformation from spreading and support users facing abuse  —  The call from 20 state officials adds to the rising pressure facing Mark Zuckerberg and his company.
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Interview with Sonos CEO Patrick Spence, who says Amazon illegally prices its Echo speakers below cost and can do so by subsidizing from its “monopoly business”  —  Patrick Spence called Echo discounts “predatory pricing” and said his company was working on future Ikea products.
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
YouTube says it took down 2,596 accounts from China in Q2 for engaging in “coordinated influence operations” on political issues, up from 277 accounts in Q1  —  YouTube has banned a large number of Chinese accounts it said were engaging in “coordinated influence operations” on political issues, the company announced today.
More: The Keyword, CNET, and ZDNet
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku beats analyst estimates with Q2 revenue of $356.1M, up 42% YoY, and says it has 43M active streaming accounts with streaming hours rising 65% YoY  —  Roku, helped again by stay-at-home streaming during the coronavirus pandemic, topped Wall Street earnings estimates for the second quarter …
Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:
Telemedicine provider Teladoc Health signs a $18.5B deal to buy Livongo, maker of connected devices for managing diabetes and other chronic conditions  —  In a sign of the growing importance and value of digital healthcare in the world of medicine, two of the industry's publicly traded companies …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
TikTok tightens policies against manipulated content, expands fact-checking partnerships, and is working with DHS's Countering Foreign Influence Task Force  —  TikTok announced new rules for its users on Wednesday to curb misinformation and manipulation ahead of the 2020 election.

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